Five dead in family shooting

A gunman was believed to have killed five people today in the Dutch town of Hilversum, about 12 miles south-east of Amsterdam, police reported.

Dutch national radio said a 46-year-old father gunned down his wife and their three children, then took his own life. The house was in a working-class neighbourhood of the town, the report said.

“It just happened, so the details are very unclear,” said police spokeswoman Annet Bol. “I really know very little at this point, but I can say five people have probably been killed at a family home.”

Hilversum is an affluent Amsterdam satellite town and home to Media Park, the headquarters of the national broadcasting company where the maverick politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed on the eve of the 2002 elections.